


One Favor Too Many

by Adsullatta



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Pre-Canon, angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 15:11:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1351981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adsullatta/pseuds/Adsullatta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the wake of Uther's ban on magic, Gaius rushes to warn Alice, praying that he'll make it to her in time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Favor Too Many

Rushing through the streets of the lower town, Gaius paused and ducked into an alley to let a patrol of soldier’s caparisoned in red and gold stomp by. Between them struggled a man Gaius knew, Stephan-a baker from the Lower Eastern quarter of the city. The man was famous for his charmed goods-the tastiest bread and pastries available in all of Camelot. It was well-known that the man possessed only the tiniest spark of magic, and that he poured every bit of this talent into making his wares.

Stephan was shrieking that he’d done nothing, that he was innocent of any crime and while Gaius believed him, there was nothing he could do for the poor man. The city was descending into a madness that he had no cure for. Their king had lost his queen and he was taking his grief and rage out on the most convenient targets. Gaius feared this day's work was just the beginning of the nightmare to come.

Though it saddened him greatly to watch and do nothing, there was someone far more important than Stephan in need of Gaius' help right now.

The street was deserted in the wake of the soldiers’ passing, but eyes lurked in every window and shadowed doorway. Gaius carefully adjusted the hood of his cloak, making sure his well-known face remained concealed from prying eyes before continuing on his way. A left turn down Chandler Lane then a right into an unnamed alley that cut between the Cutler’s shop and the Cooper’s, he headed deeper and deeper into the working class neighborhood of the Upper Eastern quarter. Having grown up here, Gaius knew this part of town like the back of his hand.

Emerging from the far end of the alley, Gaius heard shouting and instinctively ducked low, crouching behind a perilously stacked mountain of crates outside the chicken butcher’s back door. He heard a woman shriek and saw a flash of light followed by a puff of smoke, and then another shriek before everything went still. Heart in his mouth, Gaius peered out from his hiding place, praying to the gods- _Please, not_ her _, let it be someone else,_ anyone _else!_

There was a small knot of soldiers gathered around a figure on the ground. Clad in a simple gown of faded blue, a woman lay where she’d fallen, cut down by the soldiers as she tried to flee. Her black hair was spread around her head forming a halo in the dust of the road. Her _black_ hair…

Relief crashed over him in a wave so strong it left him trembling. _It’s not her_. Sending a prayer of thanks skyward, Gaius backtracked through the alley and chose a route that skirted around the soldiers. He met no further patrols before reaching his destination, and he pushed open the door to the Apothecary with another prayer on his lips, this time hoping that he wasn’t too late.

Once again the gods were smiling on him because there she was, safe sound and-as of yet-mercifully undiscovered. Despite the noise of his entrance, she didn’t look up from the glowing green liquid she was carefully decanting into a dark blue bottle. As usual, she was oblivious to the world around her. Absorbed as she was in her work, anything outside her door simply didn’t exist.

“Alice!” he exclaimed, his usual exasperated affection subsumed by the terror that had driven him to her door. “Put that down, you must leave at once!”

Ignoring him to apply a wax seal to the stopper she’d inserted in the bottle, she barely hummed a reply. He strode across the room and grabbed the bottle from her with uncharacteristic impatience. She finally looked up at him, blue eyes wide with astonishment.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing, Gaius?”

“You have to leave Camelot,” he said, his tone desperate. “You have to leave _now_ ,” he added when she continued to stare up at him uncomprehendingly.

Shaking her head, she began, “I don’t under-“

Gaius was usually a patient and polite man but fear drove all niceties before it, and her off mid-sentence.

“The King has decreed that all magic is to be banned upon _penalty of death_. His soldiers are out there in the streets rounding up practitioners as we speak. I’ve bought you a little time but you must go now-tonight.”

“Bought me time? How?”

He hesitated a moment before he told her.

“You’re dead.”

Her face pinched in confusion at his words. “Dead?”

“Officially anyhow. I…Uther had a list. A list of those to be arrested for immediate execution, and…you were on it. There were already names crossed off, people already…gone. So when his back was turned I…I struck you off as well.”

“But if I’m no longer on the list, why must I leave?” she asked, her usual quick wits seemed to have temporarily abandoned her in her shock.

“Because if they learn that you are _not_ dead, they will soon remedy that situation! It’s no longer safe for you to remain in the city. Please, Alice you must go!”

“But…what about you? You’ve practiced almost as much magic as I have!”

Sighing deeply, Giaus explained, “In view of ‘services to the crown’, Uther _graciously_ offered to spare my life if I renounced magic and swore never to use it again. I…I did it, Alice. I swore to him I’d never use magic again.”

His shoulders slumped in shame for his cowardice and sorrow…sorrow for both the magic and for what he knew he must do to safeguard Alice’s life.

“But...you’re coming with me, right?” she implored, eyes suddenly awash with tears.

“I cannot,” he replied with the heaviest of hearts.

“But…but what about us? Our plans…the wedding?” she asked in a small voice, as the tears began to fall.

It was becoming harder and harder to speak. Somehow the air wouldn’t come, couldn’t get past the emotions clogging his throat. His hands shook as they reached out to pull her close.

“It-it would be too suspicious if I left with you…can’t you see? Uther believes you to be _dead_." the last word burned his throat like acid. An image of the black haired woman in the street rose before his mind’s eye. But this time she was crowned with a gleaming swath of honey-gold hair; this time it was Alice who lay dead in the dust of the road.

“The King would question it. Why would I leave when I’ve just sworn my undying allegiance to him? He would see through it in an instant. No…I’m afraid…you must…go alone,” he continued, forcing the words past the blockage in his throat.

Alice clung to him, and he could feel her tremors, a shivering counterpoint to his own. He tightened his arms around her, wondering if he’d ever get the chance to hold her again. Would Uther’s rage ever spend itself? Would he ever wake from the madness that currently gripped him? Would there ever come a day Alice could return? Or a day when Gaius could follow her?

“I don’t want to leave you,” she protested, her voice pitched high in distress.

“And I don’t want you to go…but you must. Please, my love, you must go. You must _live_. Please, for me,” he pleaded, his own tears falling now. “I don’t…I don’t want to live in a world where you no longer exist.”

She sobbed against his chest and he held her for a few more precious moments before letting go. Gaius pressed a small but heavy purse of coins into her hand. It was all the money he’d saved in this world, but Gaius knew Alice would need it far more than he in the coming days. They packed in silence and embraced once more before he left. It wouldn’t be safe for her to leave before sundown, but his absence would be noted in the castle if he stayed with her much longer.

“If they come for you before you are ready to depart, promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to escape,” he looked deep into her eyes, hoping his meaning was clear. “I want you to live Alice, whatever the cost may be.” 

Her eyes widened in surprised comprehension at this uncharacteristic ruthlessness, nevertheless she nodded slowly in assent.

“I promise,” she said. 

He kissed her once more and left, slipping through the streets and making his way back to the castle unseen. Praying again to the gods who’d clearly favored his mission this day, he asked them to extend their grace and grant him one more favor-to restore Uther to sanity, to bring peace and safety back for the magic-users of Camelot.

“Please…please make it _soon,"_ he whispered.


End file.
